Armed men rob Jacó casino Tuesday night

Five armed men entered Casino Amapola in Playa Jacó, on the central Pacific coast, on Tuesday at approximately 1:30 a.m. and stole ¢3.5 million ($7,000) in cash, two laptops and four cellular phones, according to a spokeswoman for the Judicial Investigation Police. A sixth man waited in a taxi, which was used as the getaway car.

The suspects also stole cash from two customers, one Costa Rican and one Venezuelan, and eight employees at the casino. Authorities did not know how much money was stolen from these ten individuals.

The robbery took only a few minutes, after which the suspects fled in a taxi waiting outside. The taxi had San José license plates.

Casino security guards alerted the police as soon as the robbers left, and an operation was mounted to find the suspects.

The National Police detained a taxi with San José license plates and two individuals, but the police spokeswoman said the men were carrying a total of ¢23,000 ($46) in cash, and no laptops or phones were found in the vehicle. A pretrial hearing for the suspects was held on Thursday at 1 p. m. in the Garabito Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction in Jacó.